New Delhi, Jan 8 :The Ghaziabad police said on Friday that they have arrested seven persons involved in printing fake Indian currency notes (FICN), who already have printed a counterfeit cash having a face value of Rs 15-16 lakhs.
The police have seized fake currency notes having face value of Rs 6.59 lakh, which includes all denominations of notes ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 2000.
The seven accused have been identified as Aman, Alam, Rahbar, Furkan, Aazaad, Md Yunus and Sonu, all residents of Ghaziabad.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Akash Patel said that they had received a tip-off about a gang involved in printing the counterfeit currency somewhere in the city. Based on the information, a team was constituted and a raid was conducted at a specified place.
“Three people were apprehended from the spot and on their revelations, we raided the place of Md Yunus, where the whole nexus was unearthed,” Patel said.
The mastermind of the whole gang was found as Aazaad, who introduced the idea of printing fake currency notes to Md Yunus and Sonu and they began the printing.
The rest of the three people Aman, Alam, and Furkan used to supply the fake currency and give it to several shops in the city. The cops found out that the gang became active in May, 2021 and since then they have printed Rs 15-17 lakh, of which Rs 11-12 lakh have entered the market.
“The accused were producing refined quality currencies, which made it difficult for consumers to identify the difference between a fake and a real one,” Patel said.
The police have denied any international connection of the gang, however, have said that probe is still on.
Earlier, on December 23, the Special Cell of Delhi Police had busted an international syndicate that was involved in circulating FICN and two people involved in the racket were arrested.
Notably, counterfeiting of currency notes is an offence under the Indian Penal Code.
Further, production, smuggling or circulation of high-quality fake Indian paper currency, coin or any other material has been made a terrorist act under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. (IANS)